Recently, as the cutterhead of the "Jin'an No. 2" earth pressure balance shield machine, jointly developed by CRCHI and China Railway 18th Bureau Group, successfully broke through the ground, it marked that the deepest shield-driven section of the entire Taiyuan Metro Line 1 — the section from Yingze East Street Station to Chaoyang Street Station — achieved dual-line breakthrough.

Breakthrough site of the section from Yingze East Street Station to Chaoyang Street Station

The section from Yingze East Street Station to Chaoyang Street Station passes beneath multiple residential buildings. The tunnel features a steep longitudinal slope of 33‰ and a small horizontal curve radius of 400 meters for excavation. The maximum burial depth of the track surface is approximately 43.7 meters, and the maximum overburden depth of the tunnel is approximately 38.8 meters. The section has a relatively deep water level and extremely high soil and water pressure, making it the deepest shield-driven section of the entire Taiyuan Metro Line 1, with extremely high requirements for shield tunneling precision control and equipment sealing.

To ensure the smooth progress of the shield machine's underpass construction, CRCHI, in collaboration with China Railway 18th Bureau Group and under the guidance of the owner and industry experts, carried out targeted designs on the articulated seals, tail brushes, and muck conditioning system of the "Jin'an No. 2" shield machine. This enabled the shield machine to successfully complete excavation under the construction alignment of small curves and large longitudinal slopes and the geological conditions of large burial depth and high soil and water pressure, laying a solid foundation for the smooth opening of Taiyuan Metro Line 1.